1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a steering system for a vehicle, including a steering gear box disposed laterally of a vehicle body at a front portion thereof, and a steering wheel mounted at a rear end of a steering shaft which extends rearwardly and upwardly from an upper portion of the steering gear box.
2. Description of Relevant Art
There are such conventionally known steering systems for a vehicle, described in Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open Nos. 34380/90 and 48478/90, in which the steering wheel is moved forwardly of the vehicle body by utilizing the deformation of a strength member resulting from a collision of the vehicle.
The steering system disclosed in the former publication has a problem that if the amount of deformation of the strength member due to the collision is small, it is difficult to insure a sufficient amount of steering wheel movement forwardly of the vehicle. The steering system disclosed in the latter publication has a problem that an extremely large load is applied to a lower segment of the steering shaft abutting against a shaft receiving member and hence, it is necessary to increase the diameter of the lower segment, thereby causing an increase in weight. The steering system disclosed in the latter publication also has another problem that a large deformation of the strength member is required in order to move the steering wheel forwardly a sufficient amount.